Reset
by Dark Ice Dragon
Summary: It didn't matter what had gone wrong, because there was a much bigger question to ask: what happens when a self-aware NPC dies?
1. Search

**Summary**: It didn't matter what had gone wrong, because there was a much bigger question to ask: what happens when a self-aware NPC dies?

Rated for swearing and some violence.

Set after chapter 43.

A mix up of the manhua-verse and novel-verse.

Lan's wearing her Red Blood gear. (The stuff she wore when she became the spokesperson of Second Life)

I've had this plotbunny since, like, March last year. Started writing it in August and then it got left again in October/November. Started back on this because of the developments in the manhua and posting it before everything gets shown/explained.

* * *

**Reset**

By Dark Ice Dragon

Search

* * *

Dammit, dammit, _dammit_!

"Look out!"

Pivoting, Lan kicked off, leaping backwards and just missed being skewered like dango by a gigantic claw. They were being beaten by a giant _chicken_. Gui and Doll had already flown away, taken down in a number of hits, and it was only a matter of time before the rest of them did as well. All their magic and skills were useless, sliding off shiny feathers like they were water instead and the mob had a weird attack that froze them in place for an agonisingly long minute. Even Kenshin didn't seem to be putting much of a dent in it. And that really, really worried her.

The oversized bird hissed again like an aggravated cat. Lan wasn't going to ask about that - the programmers probably thought it was funny.

"Prince! Behind-"

She dived out of the way as a smaller version of the chicken ('smaller' meant it was 'only' twenty-foot tall, rather than thirty-foot - and what kind of bird had a _lizard's_ tail anyway?) pecked at where she'd just been, dirt getting thrown up as its beak thudded into the ground.

There were just too many of them. Even when they were able to bring down a smaller one, it respawned a minute later. They couldn't run because they'd been backed up against a cliff-face and were completely surrounded.

The last thing Lan saw was a blue, spike-tipped wing descending towards her.

~ ~ ~  
With a groan, Lan shook her head and waited for the bright spots to leave her vision. The only pain she could feel was a massive bruise forming on her forehead and, thankfully, nowhere else. Her legs were feeling a little shaky though, and she wasn't sure about trying to stand just yet.

"Prince? You flew away too?" Gui asked, his brow furrowed in concern. He and Doll were standing a few steps away from where she was, eating something, Doll's face covered in crumbs. There was no-one else there.

Lan nodded, wincing as the motion felt like she'd tried to tip her brain out her skull. She edged off the respawn point when it started glowing under her, soft at first, before strengthening and then flashing once. It was Yulian who materialised, looking slightly dazed. They only had to wait two more seconds for Wolf, but it was a slightly longer period before Lolidragon showed up.

Lolidragon flopped back, arms outspread. "Well," she sighed, "_that_ was fun." She lay there for a few seconds before she sat up and smiled at them. "Let's not explore that area again, hmm?"

They chuckled at that while she got to her feet.

"I don't know about you," Lolidragon continued blithely as she stretched, "but I am _starving_."

"We'll go eat once Kenshin gets here," Lan reassured her. She was hungry too, but they shouldn't have to wait for too long, no matter how good Kenshin was. Lan wasn't actually sure when they'd last eaten either - she knew that they'd had dinner before they'd decided to go exploring, but that was... some number of hours ago. Wasn't she supposed to wake up soon?

"Eh?" Lolidragon blinked at her before looking around slowly at everyone. "But... he'd flown away before me..." She trailed off, her mouth hanging open as her eyes widened.

At that, Lan's stomach dropped as she realised the same thing. They were at the respawn point because that was where players _went_ when they died. But Kenshin wasn't a player; he was a self-aware NPC - so where did _he_ go when he died?

Uneasily, she said, "We'll wait a couple more minutes - maybe you didn't actually see him fly away." Which was technically true, because Caellus had just _disintegrated_ into bubbles when she'd killed him. Which _really_ wasn't settling her stomach any. No-one had seen Caellus since they'd fought him, but at least she had the plausible deniability that most people didn't go to the Valley of the Wandering Nymphs - and if they did, they flew away soon after due to being distracted. But Kenshin...

They waited for five minutes, then another ten, dread growing within Lan with every passing moment. The glyph stayed dead for the entire time.

"Hmm." Wolf frowned as he rubbed the fur on his cheek. "He couldn't have beaten all of the mobs by himself, could he?" He looked to Lolidragon for confirmation.

She shook her head. "I was only dodging when it was just the two of us; I don't think he could have."

The last Lan had seen, there had been at least four of the smaller chickens; there was no way Lolidragon and Kenshin could have killed all of them by themselves, even if they'd had full health and energy.

Kenshin wasn't answering her PMs either. He didn't normally, but sometimes he did, and she had to be getting to the annoying stage already, so why wasn't he PMing her to at least tell her to shut up?

"Maybe he logged off before he flew away?" Doll suggested, her hands fiddling with her staff.

"Maybe," Lan hedged. It sounded plausible enough. "We'll wait for a little longer. If he doesn't show up or PM any of us soon, we'll go to get something to eat." It felt like a betrayal saying that, but they had to make sure that they kept the number of people who knew about Kenshin and Sunshine down to a minimum.

After the allotted time came and went, Odd Squad left to fill their stomachs. Lan followed after them, her feet dragging, hoping the respawn point would even throw up a tiny spark before she left.

It didn't.

* * *  
The cave walls around him were wet, trickling water from somewhere up high above his head. It was familiar; he knew every overturned stone in front of him but... something was wrong.

He was not supposed to be here...?

But then, where was he meant to be?

No answer revealed itself. After some amount of time passed, he decided to continue wandering the cave.

Maybe he would find his answer doing that.

* * *  
-_'Kenshin!_'- Lan called. -'_Kenshin!_'- She'd been doing that ever since she'd logged in, but she hadn't received a response yet.

If he'd survived fighting the giant chickens, then he would have had plenty time to get back to Infinite City while she'd been logged out. Maybe he was just ignoring her. But he would have come to her by now, at least to tell her to stop. He couldn't have just _disappeared_ though. He couldn't be lost either - he didn't have her lack of direction. She'd thought about it throughout the day, but she had no idea where he could have gone.

Someone put their hand on Lan's shoulder, drawing her attention.

Turning around, she saw that it was Lolidragon and Sunshine standing behind her. Lolidragon had a comforting smile on her face, and Sunshine was carrying his carpet, rolled up and held securely under his arm.

"You think you know where he is?" she asked, hopeful. Sunshine didn't bring out his carpet for nothing, but where were they thinking of going that would need the carpet as transportation?

They both nodded. "When a player dies, they go to the closest respawn point," Lolidragon explained. Yeah, she knew that, but Lan kept quiet, wanting to know what Lolidragon would add. "But when an NPC dies, they don't go anywhere because they usually die in the place where they're supposed to be."

Where they're supposed to be? Kenshin was supposed to be with her, right? As her pet. But if NPCs didn't normally leave the area that they'd been put in...

Kenshin was originally from the Ghost Cave.

All the air in Lan's lungs came out at once, relief flooding her. That would explain why he wasn't answering her PMs, and why he hadn't come back to Infinite City: he was in the Eastern Continent. ... But why had he ended up there? Shouldn't he have respawned next to her?

Think about that later. Right now, they needed to get to the Eastern Continent and pick him up.

Lan's elation dimmed a little as another thought occurred to her: what was she going to tell the others?

Lolidragon saw her hesitation, and reached forward again, tugging her towards Sunshine before she could say anything. "It'll be fiiine," Lolidragon said cheerily. "I'll give 'em an explanation when they ask."

It didn't reassure her much; look at what Doll said the last time she'd left. "I'm not-"

"Sunshine," Lolidragon interrupted her with a roll of her eyes, "just take her already."

He was smiling a little at their antics but Lan could see the little worried crease between his eyebrows. He hesitated, glancing between the two of them, waiting to see who would give the final order.

Lan looked down and shook her head, berating herself. She really shouldn't be worrying about the others right now - Lolidragon would sort things out, and even if things _did_ end up more complicated than before, they would at least have Kenshin back. That was what mattered. It would all work out eventually.

"All right, Sunshine," she said, squaring her shoulders, "let's go."

Sunshine's smile grew until he beamed, bright as the real sun. "Okay!" In one smooth movement, he unfurled the carpet, flicked it, and then let it go. It stayed there, hovering a few feet above the ground.

Without another thought, Lan jumped up and landed on the fabric. Sunshine's smile turned amused as he made the carpet hover lower so that it fluttered against the ground, and then he walked on to it.

She huffed in embarrassment at that. Whoops. Lan turned to Lolidragon, who smiled at them, waving.

"You'd better get back quick!" Lolidragon warned them, raising an eyebrow.

"We'll try to," Lan promised. It shouldn't take them that long - the flight there was relatively short (especially compared to the boat ride), and while the Ghost Cave was massive, it was at least only one specific place to look, rather than trying to find a person in the whole of Second Life.

With that goodbye, the carpet rose up and they started speeding towards the east.

* * *  
This... was not going as well as Lan had thought it would go. They'd found the cave easily enough, and it hadn't changed much since the last time she'd been there. The walls were still humongously tall, the moss actually seemed to have spread more, and there were puddles all over the place.

They hadn't seen a _hint_ to Kenshin yet.

But, it was still early; they had only been searching for a couple of hours now. The _really_ annoying thing was that they couldn't avoid the mobs. It seemed like she and Sunshine would only take a couple of steps from the last fight and they'd stumble into another one. Ugh. It was making her edgy and uneasy, considering what had happened the last time she'd been in a massive fight. And this time, it was Sunshine who was with her, which didn't help her state of mind.

Lan didn't understand why Kenshin hadn't been waiting for them at the entrance, or why he still wasn't answering her PMs, but the cave was _huge_, so maybe he'd respawned on the other side or something. She hoped.

She frowned down the passage she and Sunshine were standing in. Even though she'd spent days here before, it was completely unfamiliar to her. Lan could barely tell the difference between where they were going and where they'd just been. They could have gone in a circle ten times already and she wouldn't have known.

Hopefully, when they found Kenshin, he would be able to lead them out again.

* * *  
There were two demons and an angel in front of him. They had passed by him, not knowing he was there, chatting between themselves easily, laughter sprinkling between them.

"But, obviously, he hadn't seen her behind him, right?" That was the angel, dressed in a mix of blues and greens, his violet hair fluttering. He was a little bit in front of the other two, walking backwards.

"And no-one was going to tell him either," the silver-haired demon chimed in, smirking at the howling third.

The voices were fading as the trio got further away and he tuned their conversation out. He should have attacked them. That was what he normally did. But... he had hesitated this time and he was not sure why. Which did not make sense to him; if they had seen him first, they would have attacked, he knew that. For what reason, he did not know. Yet something whispered that there was not such a big need to kill the others now. Not in actual words, but, just, a knowledge that was that there and did not need to be expressed so explicitly.

Frowning, he turned away, continuing back to his wandering.

* * *  
Okay, Lan could easily admit that she and Sunshine were completely and utterly lost. No doubt about it. They'd spent the last two days inside the cave, because they couldn't find their way back out again. Which was getting really problematic, because she hadn't brought potions with her -of _any_ kind- so she was running low on health and everything else without a chance to stock up on her non-existent supply. There just never seemed to be that much time in between fights for her health and energy to replenish itself.

One good thing that was coming from this, Lan supposed, was that she was gaining a few levels from all the fighting. She had to look on the good side of the situation or else she was going to go insane. Definitely not a lot of good drops though. She was getting tired of seeing the same ghost over and over again as well - it seemed like there were only two types of mobs here: ghosts and giant rats. For every rat they fought, they had to go through twenty ghosts before it. Lan was very sure of this; she'd counted.

They still hadn't found Kenshin, and Lan was fairly sure they were starting to delve into the bowels of the cave, nearing where Sunshine had been trapped.

Maybe that was where Kenshin had gone; they were well on the way to have searched everywhere else twice. Unless they'd been in the same area about eight times already. It was a goal, at least - not that you could say they were heading for it deliberately.

Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Lan glanced around the cavern. They'd hit another fork and, as per usual, she didn't recognise it. Frowning, she stared at each path carefully. One of them seemed darker than the others, the ground wetter, the walls grimy. Bosses in caves were always in the worst kept area, weren't they? Either because they liked it like that, or to dissuade people from coming near them. Or it was just appropriate.

Sunshine was also looking down the same path, eyes distant. Lan was a little worried about him; he hadn't said much since they'd arrived, and he wasn't smiling as often, wasn't asking as many questions. Not that he could ask that much in this setting anyway, Lan conceded; there wasn't much here apart from rocks, water, and the greenery that sprouted through the cracks. They had still yet to find the yawning caverns that she and Kenshin had traversed over to get to Sunshine, but maybe there was more than one route that they could take there.

"Don't worry," she said as they started moving again, both choosing the same path without discussing it, "we'll find him soon." They would. They were _not_ going to leave the cave without him.

Sunshine didn't respond straight away, but after a few seconds he turned to look at her. There was a small smile on his lips, though his eyes were still a little downcast. "I know."

Lan grinned up at him, pushed down her own worry, and they started moving again.

* * *  
-'_Kenshin?_'- That voice again. It was different from the whispers, not just in how it sounded, but it was always clear when it tried to talk to him rather than leaving an indistinct impression in his mind. No knowledge came from the other voice, only a few repeated, nonsensical questions. _-'You here?_'-

There was a twin '_shick_' behind him, pulling him away from his thoughts. Two seconds later, a battle-yell echoed off the walls.

He dodged the strike easily, and he unsheathed his katana at the same time. Just as he was about to attack, yellow light flashed out of the corner of his eye and he jumped backwards. The lightning passed him harmlessly and crashed into a wall.

"I _knew_ he was in here somewhere!" the human thief crowed, twirling her daggers in celebration.

The lynx beast snorted, holding out his staff. It started to spark under his hands. "We've been searching for this guy for _days_ now you idiot," he said, both ears twitching down. "I don't think the amount of crystals you get for his hair tie is worth it."

His hair tie? He wanted to reach up and make sure that it was there, but he could not, not with the others there, on the edge of attacking again. They wanted it? That was familiar to him, being hunted down for such an insignificant item. Why had he ever thought it had stopped?

The lightning on the mage's staff was growing, throwing flickering shadows across the walls until it encased the staff in a solid halo of light. He lunged at the thief, the magic attack roaring harmlessly behind him. Caught off guard, the thief tried to parry, but she was not fast enough. Her daggers did nothing to change the direction of his blade and he plunged his katana in to the human's heart.

The human exploded in to a burst of light, and he turned to face the mage. The mage was staring at him, wide-eyed and quickly backing away, his staff held up as if it was a shield instead.

In a few quick steps, he was equal to him. One slash, and he was alone once more.

He was being hunted again. But he knew of a safe area that he could go, where he would not be found easily.

He didn't know _how_ he knew, but for all the confusion the whispers caused him, they had not been wrong yet about the information they bestowed him.

* * *  
It had been a couple more days before Lan and Sunshine were able to find the right area of the cave. Sunshine did more exploring while she had been offline, and when she logged in, she was fine with following Sunshine's lead.

There was a dizzying drop on their left Lan was _sure_ that she wouldn't survive, and she kept a cautious eye out for the roots that were draped along the path. On their right was a steep wall that reached up so high Lan couldn't see where it joined with the ceiling, because she couldn't see that either. The width of the path wasn't dangerously narrow, at least wide enough for four people to walk abreast, but it would still be hard to manoeuvre around easily, if there was a fight here.

They had to be getting closer to the palace though. This was definitely something that she remembered while she was travelling with Kenshin, and again, when they'd freed Sunshine.

A breeze swept in from in front of them and Lan raised her arms to protect her eyes. There was an inhuman screech and Lan ducked out of instinct. A _whoosh_ streaked above her head and Lan's dao was in her hands before she could think.

It was yet another ghost, luckily, on its own. The others that they'd fought before it had looked almost cute at times, all curved lines, while this one seemed bulkier and just _bigger_ than the rest. The bad thing was that it could still hover and fly as much as it wanted, and Lan hadn't realised just how much of an advantage it had over them until she remembered the current terrain.

Teeth bared, revealing a mouth full of jagged fangs, it swooped again, this time diving for Sunshine. Lan's eyes narrowed, her grip on her dao tightening. She dashed forward and jumped, getting the perfect angle and slashed at the monster. Her dao passed through it, but she could feel the resistance as it did and the ghost howled and spun away quickly. Then Lan saw where her jump was going to take her.

Shit. Shitshitshit!

She felt her cape being grabbed and then she was hauled back to safer, solid ground. Lan hit the ground with a heavy _thump_, her neck aching, but that was far better than falling into the abyss.

She'd barely got the wind back in her, had only glanced at Sunshine in thanks, when the damn ghost attacked again, glowing blue as its claws raked forward, missing her as she scrambled out the way. Lan hadn't seen any of the others do that before, and she briefly wondered if that was because this was a higher level mob compared to its brothers and sisters. It could explain why it was by itself.

Its claws left deep gouges in the floor - and then exploded.

... No _way_ was she going to let that touch her.

The air rained with bits of gravel and bark, Lan's ability to see decreasing far too much from all the debris. There was a _crack_ as parts of the wall collapsed as its foundation gave way, sending more billowing clouds of dirt spiralling in the air. Her eyes burned and watered, and she coughed as the dust made their way to her lungs. Lan squinted around her, but she could only make out the hazy silhouette of Sunshine.

There was something glowing blue above her and she twisted out of the way, hoping that she wasn't heading straight over the edge. Thankfully, she didn't, though she tripped over a hidden root. The air in her lungs left her painfully again for a second time in as many minutes, but Lan was grateful for that, especially when the ground behind her exploded once more. That was when she felt the bit beneath her feet crumbling, and she scrabbled back to her feet, edging away, hoping she was following the path rather than going across it.

There was even more dust in the air now, so much so that all Lan could do was close her eyes instead and cough as it felt like every particle of dirt was trying to force their way into her lungs. Her sight was useless right now - even if she could open her eyes, they were watering so much that she could only see smudges of brown and green.

Every sound she made seemed harsh and far too loud to her ears, and she could still hear rocks dropping to the ground. But where was Sunshine? He hadn't been hurt, had he? He hadn't flown away, right?

There was a faint noise to her left as stones tumbled against each other, more concentrated than the light hissing fall around her. Definitely footsteps, something which the ghost shouldn't be able to do.

Another howl, making Lan jerk from the sheer volume, but she was beginning to see the pattern in its attack. She peeked out of her smarting eyes, to confirm where the glowing was and then closed them again. Lan could feel the wind swirling around her, maybe taking the dust away, but she didn't check. There was a crackling in the air, something she hadn't noticed before, and she used that to keep track of the mob.

It was directly above her, and it only used its special attack going straight down.

With her head tipped back, Lan could maybe see the blue light through her eyelids and then she waited. It wasn't long before it dived towards her again.

When she thought it was close enough, she swung her dao above her, yelling, "Inferno slash!" The air burned around her, and all she could see was red scorching the back of her eyes, and all she could hear was the roar of fire as it sliced through the ghost.

A screech filled the air.

"Fire arrow!" Sunshine bellowed a second later.

There was another burst of heat and Lan heard multiple impacts upon a far wall to her right. Still wary, she kept her dao raised, straining her ears for another warning.

"Prince? It's okay - it's gone now."

Slowly, she tried to open her eyes. They still hurt, and she couldn't see much. She rubbed at them with an arm and belatedly realised that her wrist guards were _not_ good for trying to clear her eyes. Ugh. She wiped her hands on her cloak and tried again with the heel of her palm. It worked better this time, and she could see slightly better, though her eyes were still watering heavily.

Sunshine was in front of her waiting, dirt only lightly dusting his clothes. Lan didn't want to know what _she_ looked like at the moment. It felt like all of her exposed skin was covered in grime and sweat. The air had settled somewhat, though it was still a little cloudy and she could see the motes still moving from the aftermath of Sunshine's attack. In front of her...

Ack.

There were two gaping craters, both probably as wide as she was tall, their rims not looking that stable. It was worrying, and as they watched, more of the cracked edge broke away, bounced a little in the crater and then rolled off the edge. The good thing was, there was still a small path that could be walked across, but it didn't look like it would be like that for very long. There were ominous groans murmuring around them, and Lan was beginning to think that it was coming from the ground below them.

If it _did_ crumble away while they were looking for Kenshin, she hoped that the gap left behind would still jumpable.

Lan turned away from the destruction, what-ifs fading from her mind. They'd deal with it if it came up later; they had someone to find in the meantime.

* * *  
He walked through the cavern, looking at everything. He knew every path here, knew exactly where they would lead him and what would be there at the end.

But, he had never been here before. He was sure of it. His memories did not cover this, but he could not deny the fact that he was as familiar with this area as he was of where he usually walked. It could maybe explain how he knew of this place without realising. If he remembered everything here without having been here before, then knowing about another area within this one was not a stretch of imagination.

He was curious to see what the safe haven was like. He would find out soon.

* * *  
At least the scenery was different now, Lan could admit with some relief as she and Sunshine continued on. The craggy walls were beginning to smoothen out, and everything didn't seem to be as wet anymore. The greenery was disappearing too, which Lan was a little disappointed about. That meant the only colour around them was brown, grey, and dark brown. Not exactly a lot of variety.

It had been a while since they'd bumped in to any mobs, which was making her really nervous. Where were they all? Had it been like this the last time? Frowning, Lan tried to think about it carefully. There had been a lot of monsters, yeah, but that had been mostly at the front of the cave, rather than the back. It had been a pretty peaceful walk, up until they crossed the cavern. So hopefully this was just normal.

The path narrowed and smoothened completely until they were walking down a very straight and even path. If they were on the right track, that should be the entrance to Sunshine's palace.

It took them ages walking, but with every step, Lan became surer that they were heading for the right place.

An hour later, she and Sunshine were craning their heads up at the humungous door. Lan laughed a little, seeing the piece that was missing from the jewel. Maybe she should take another piece to Yulian. It wouldn't hurt, right?

They ducked into the room, and then stopped, staring.

No Kenshin.

_Dammit_. Where the hell was he? She started poking around the room, checking inside the jars and behind the giant seashell thing, but there wasn't anything there.

Where _was_ he? Why hadn't he been waiting for them? Was he actually here? Or was he...? He couldn't be. No. He wasn't. He _wasn't_.

Lan turned to Sunshine, her mouth open to say that they should keep looking through the cave, but she froze before she could get a sound out.

Kenshin. At the door. Eyeing them with a blank face.

Lan's own face broke out a huge grin of sheer relief.

"Hey!" She waved and stepped forward.

His eyes cut to her in a heartbeat, the intensity and focus startling her. A second later, his katana was in his hand.

'_What?_' Lan's eyes widened in shock as she took in the stance Kenshin was in, and she hastily summoned her dao. She nearly wasn't fast enough.

Her back slammed against the wall with a tremendous force, the wind knocked out of her. She'd smacked her head at the same time and she was dazed for a few precious seconds as she tried to sort out what was happening.

Kenshin was attacking her. Why? Was he _that_ pissed off at her for dying?

She struggled to get back to her feet but Kenshin was already out of her vision. _Shit_.

"Piercing wind!"

The air in front of her screamed past, and a red blur bounced back, away from her. Kenshin turned to glare at Sunshine, his katana raised.

What was _going on_? Kenshin wasn't going to attack _Sunshine_ was he?

It didn't look like it. He wavered as he stared at Sunshine, though his katana didn't budge.

Grunting, Lan pushed herself to her feet, but Sunshine's next words froze her solid.

"Demon Lord," he greeted with a tilt of his head.

No.

Why - why was Sunshine calling him that? And _why was Kenshin reacting_?

Kenshin nodded curtly, the tip of his katana dipping. "Lantis Ilyushin."

That - it wasn't right. Something was horribly, horribly wrong. Kenshin shouldn't have attacked them, he shouldn't be reacting to Demon Lord, or calling Sunshine by his old name either. But he was, and Lan could only stare at the two of them, the air trapped in her lungs, her stomach deciding that it would _stay_ some couple hundred miles under ground.

Turning his head slightly, Kenshin looked at her through the corner of her eyes, his eyes narrow, and his hand tightened on his hilt. Dammit. There was no way that she'd be able to touch him, let alone _beat_ him. And she didn't _want_ to beat him, or even fight him.

"Wait." Sunshine held up a hand, and waited for Kenshin focus back on him. When he did, Sunshine continued. "Don't attack him."

Kenshin frowned at him.

"He... feels different from the others, doesn't he?" Sunshine asked gently.

She _felt_ different? That didn't make sense to her, but just everything about this situation was off.

Another nod, this one more considering as he eyed her again.

"Demon Lord, please, sheath your katana - you are not in any danger here."

_That_ was definitely true. After a long minute of Kenshin staring at Sunshine, he sheathed his katana, the grate of metal on metal ringing harshly in the room.

Lan waited, hoping that something would start making sense soon. She unsummoned her dao, and after going through a check to see how banged up she was (it was thankfully mostly bruising, the armour protecting her, even though it had jarred her upon impact) she cautiously made her way towards them. Kenshin warily watched her approach, absolutely no recognition in his eyes. His hand wasn't on his hilt, but it wasn't completely relaxed either. His entire body was poised, still expecting an attack.

He was holding himself too stiff compared to how he normally held himself, an unconscious confidence and 'pride' that was communicated through every step. Here, he was highly strung, as if he was expecting to react to an attack. When she neared, he moved so that he didn't have his back to her.

Lan got to a hopefully reasonable, comfortable distance away from the two of them, but she was at a loss for what to say or do. If Kenshin didn't remember her, then she couldn't act as flippant as she normally did with him, because who knew how he would react to that. How far did the memory loss go? Before he met her? Before he met Sunshine? Before he became aware he was an NPC?

Kenshin didn't recognise her, was reacting to Demon Lord and was calling Sunshine by his old name. Which all pointed to some sort of amnesia, his memories of the last couple of months _gone_. But that couldn't be right - what kind of NPC developed amnesia?

The same kind that developed self-awareness.

He... he couldn't have it. But that was the only thing that could explain his actions.

"Kenshin...?" she tried again, just to make sure.

As soon as his name left her mouth, his head snapped to her, eyes wider and his lips slightly parted. "You..." Kenshin said the word slowly, roughly, almost like he had never used his voice before. "You are that voice in my head."

Lan's own eyes widened at that. So he _had_ heard her - he just didn't know what it was, or how to reply back. "Yeah."

"I was supposed to bring someone here." He said the statement like a question, his expression conflicted as he looked away from them.

"Yes," Sunshine agreed. "And you did."

Kenshin's eyes flicked to Sunshine's, something passing through them, too quick for Lan to see what it was. They held each other's gaze for a few seconds, before Kenshin looked away again.

"I do not remember," Kenshin said in that same, almost dead tone. He shook his head slowly, his hair ruffling.

"What _do_ you remember?" Sunshine asked him, taking a light step forward, his hands behind his back, a gentle smile on his face.

Kenshin didn't react to the encroaching of his personal space. Lan was fairly sure he would notice straight away if it'd been her who had tried that.

A soft exhalation of breath, and Kenshin suddenly looked lost, something in his expression that said he was just as confused about everything as Lan was.

It suddenly dawned on Lan that _Sunshine_ was the person who probably understood all of this the best, and if they had been in any other situation, she would have been rolling on the floor, laughing until she couldn't breathe any more. There was nothing remotely funny about this situation.

"I am not sure," Kenshin admitted grudgingly. "There are things that I am aware of, knowledge I have that I know that I should not know, and I do not know how I acquired that information, but... that is how it has always been." He paused, his body slowly relaxing. He raised his eyes to stare at Sunshine. "I know that I am hunted by others, for _this_," -he gestured sharply towards his hair- "and I have vague... recollections of that happening before. I also knew that this was a haven, but I also know that I have never stepped here before."

Lan shook her head at his words. "That's not true," she denied quietly. "You're the one who took me here."

At Kenshin's twitch and sudden turning towards her, Lan belatedly wondered if she should have spoken. It at least distracted her from what else Kenshin had been saying, but not for long.

He opened his mouth, but didn't say anything. His eyebrows drew together as he thought. "I... brought you here?" He jerked his head away, taking a small step back. "I..." He shook his head.

Lan bit her lip, watching him struggle with his memories. What could she _do_?

Sunshine took another step closer, and while Kenshin looked at him warily, he didn't back away. "It's all right," Sunshine reassured him. "You don't have to rush."

The look that Kenshin sent him was doubtful. Kenshin shook his head again. "I am not rushing; this is not what I expected when I came here."

_That_ Lan could definitely commiserate with.

"Hmm." Sunshine took another half-step towards him. "Do you want to come with us?"

Kenshin's head snapped up, his eyes wide for a second.

"We might be able to help."

Lan fervently hoped so. Lolidragon had to know what could be done to help Kenshin; she was a GM. ... But that didn't necessarily mean that she would be able to do it, not without other people knowing about Kenshin and Sunshine. Yeah, Lan's stomach wasn't going to come back any time soon.

Kenshin was quiet for a while, but eventually, he nodded slowly.

Hope lifted Lan's heart again. They could do this.

* * *

The reason why Sunshine wasn't with them in the first fight was because he'd stayed back to be with Fairsky.

No, this isn't the end. :3 Yeah, I know; I've actually done a multipart fic! There should hopefully be at least another part, if not two. I've got three-thousand words done already, but I'm not sure when it'll be finished.


	2. Travel

**Summary**: It didn't matter what had gone wrong, because there was a much bigger question to ask: what happens when a self-aware NPC dies?

I still ship Kenshin and Sunshine a little bit - you can tell here. :3

Argh, tenses. And argh, pronouns. D:

* * *

**Reset**

By Dark Ice Dragon

Travel

* * *

The elf grinned at him, his head bobbing up and down. "All right!" he cheered, a fist raised in the air. "Now we just have to get out of here." Then he blinked and turned to glance at him, uncertainty written on his face. "Uh, I'm Prince." There was a small pause as the elf hesitated, looking away. He collected himself, taking a deep breath, and glanced back at him. "Do you mind if I call you Kenshin?"

What difference did it make? None. And he had a feeling that Prince would call him that anyway even if he said yes. He shook his head.

Prince grinned widely at him, his shoulders losing the tenseness they had.

Lantis Ilyushin also beamed at him. "And I'm Sunshine," he said, placing a hand to his chest.

He frowned at the change in Lantis Ilyushin's name, but did not say anything. Seeing how everything else had changed and not changed, it should not be so surprising that Lantis Ilyushin had changed his name. It could also explain why Prince seemed to want to call him by 'Kenshin' rather than Demon Lord.

Prince was looking up and down him, his eyebrows creased, and one side of his lips lowered in a puzzled frown. Prince laughed weakly when he saw him staring at him, a hand behind his head. "It's, ah, your clothes."

Looking down, he did not see anything that was different from before. His haori covered his tunic and leggings well, and his katana was within easy reach. It must be a quirk of Prince's to ask strange questions.

"Kenshin," Prince began slowly, taking his attention away from his clothes, "how did you get here?" The elf's eyes kept wavering towards the door.

It looked like he was going to have to get used to sudden, nonsensical questions from Prince. "I walked."

At his reply, Prince blinked and then laughed. "I meant the path - we might have, uh, destroyed one of them," he rambled, waving a hand.

That was not a problem; there were at least three different paths that could be taken out of the palace. "The highest one."

There was another pause before Prince shook his head, snorting. "Ah, never mind." He hummed, crossing his arms. "You can get out from here, right?"

He nodded, then frowned as some information solidified in his mind, demanding his attention. He could not leave, not without... But that had been fulfilled, Prince had said. So was it fine for him to go? Since meeting these two, it was becoming a regular occurrence to not understand, along with the flickers of maybe-memory beating at the back of his head, even in the short time that he had talked to them. Who did he believe? The whispers or these two?

"It's okay," Sunshine said softly, his eyes gentle. "You can leave the cave - and you've done it before," he added.

Prince nodded beside him. "Yeah. You were the one to lead us out last time too," he said with a weak chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head.

Yet another thing he did not remember, not fully, but he had some flashes of greenery and buildings that definitely did not exist in Snow Village. He knew they were not lying -Sunshine was not _capable_ of lying- and he nodded slowly to their words. There was a path from here that they could take to get out of the cave, if the other flickers were correct - unless that was the one that was now impassable.

He turned away, but paused when he heard Prince begin to talk.

"Ah... Can we rest a little first? I'm a little tired."

Tired? He cocked his head at that, but acquiesced his request, turning to face them again.

Prince flopped onto the chaise longue, limbs spread like they were attempting to take up as much space as possible. He then manoeuvred himself quickly to a sitting position, scooting up to the head. Sunshine followed and perched himself next to Prince. The pair looked at him after that -Sunshine expectant; Prince also expectant, but there was something else in his expression that he could not pin down- but he was not sure why. He stayed standing; Prince sighed when he saw that but he also smiled softly at him.

"Sooo..." Prince drew out as the silence began to stretch, swinging his legs lightly, "how are you?"

He stared back blankly. The word 'fine' was on his lips -or he could just not answer- but then he actually _thought_ about it. For the most part, he was confused - confused the most about his memories, confused about the voice in his head, confused about these two people, one who he knew, and one he did not yet who seemed to know him well.

"Confused," he said finally. He would have continued to think about the whole situation but then he noticed how Prince was looking at him.

His eyes were wider than before, eyebrows raised, mouth open slightly. "You... wouldn't have told me that before." There was something in his voice that was different, that said that this was significant.

He would not have? But did they not know each other well?

Sunshine nodded in agreement. "You didn't say much."

If he did not say much before, why was he talking more now?

* * *  
That was so weird. Lan couldn't really think of a time where Kenshin had told her how he felt. Yeah, you could tell by looking at his face -in some ways, he was one of the easiest people to read- but he never actually _told_ you so much in words.

... Maybe she should stop expecting Kenshin to be a certain way. If his memories were really gone (but they were _going_ to see if they could fix that) then was it fair if they pushed Kenshin into a preformed mould of him? What if all they did was just make him act a role, rather than let him be himself?

And that just wasn't acceptable.

She knew Kenshin, not as much as Sunshine (she doubted anyone knew Kenshin better than him) but the way Kenshin acted -the way _anyone_ acted- was from their memories and how they affected them. Without his memories, Kenshin was not going to be the person she knew, and maybe he was never going to be again if he didn't get his memories back. Even if he didn't, he was still _Kenshin_ though, and that was what mattered.

There was still trust there though, or maybe just trust of Sunshine, and he wasn't attacking them, but he wasn't fully relaxing either, always keeping a wary lookout on the door.

Slowly, Lan could feel her energy building up again, and the cuts and bruises were fading little by little. A bit _too_ slowly for Lan's taste, but none of them were healers, so there wasn't much else they could do.

"Kenshin," she said as she stood up, stretching a little. He turned his head away from the door, his full attention on her. "I don't suppose you have any potions with you?" she asked hopefully, not expecting much.

He frowned slowly, his gaze turning inward, and then shook his head. "No."

She grinned at him. "Heh. Didn't think so." Ah well, it was worth a try. Lan wasn't completely up to full health yet, but by the time they bumped into a mob, she should be. The quicker they got out of here, the faster they could try bringing back Kenshin's memories.

"All right," she proclaimed, readying herself, "time to get out of here."

* * *  
Kenshin had been guiding them around the cave without pausing _once_. Lan couldn't remember if he'd been like this the last time but the pace that he was setting and the fact that he never hesitated at the forks was... a little different. He walked slower than he had before, but he made up for that with seeming to know exactly where he was going. The last time though, they'd been grinding levels, so they'd never really needed a distinct direction to go - and they hadn't really been paying that much attention to the NPCs either, Lan realised with a squirm in her stomach.

She wasn't exactly sure, but it felt like they were gradually going up. The paths seemed like they were on a small incline, though they never actually looked like it, but she could definitely feel it in her legs after a while. She was also right about there not being as many monsters on this side of the cave, but they did bump in to one or two every once in a while. The fight never lasted for very long.

Some places that they passed looked a little bit familiar, and Lan hoped that it was because she'd seen them from the last time they'd came. But, she'd left the cave from two different exits before, the first time where she and Kenshin had to squeeze through a hole -_very_ hidden, surrounded by thick roots that they'd had to hack away at for ages to get through- in the ceiling, and then when they were leaving with Sunshine, where they'd walked back out where they'd come in.

The sound of thundering rain and wind was getting louder though, something she'd been hearing for a while, but it sounded like it was coming from everywhere now, so that had to mean they were getting close to a place that had access to the outside. Kenshin hadn't said anything about that, but he hadn't really said that much at all really since they'd started moving. It kinda worried her, and as soon as she stopped seeing enclosed walls all around her, she was going to start prodding him.

They reached the entrance of a familiar looking doorway, and Lan's face blanked when she realised that yes, she _had_ been hearing heavy rain, but it was also coming down in a steady torrent of water from the semi-open hole in the ceiling. There was no way they were going to be able to keep their balance while clambering up the thin steps while _also_ being beaten down by the rain. Damn. It'd be best if they waited the storm out before trying to leave.

Kenshin didn't seem to think so.

While Lan had been thinking about what to do, he'd continued forward, mindful of the miniature sea that was winding its way through the room, but definitely not stopping.

She took a couple of steps forward and grabbed him by the arm. He stiffened under her touch, and when his head snapped to look at her a second later, his eyes were wide, almost confused. "We probably shouldn't go out yet," she half-yelled, trying to be heard over the gushing rain and howling wind. "It'd be too difficult right now." And she _really_ didn't want to be the one leading them over the Eastern Continent when she couldn't even _see_, if the mist that was falling in through the hole was anything to go by.

There was a pause, Kenshin frowning a little. "...Like the snow." His words were pretty muffled and quiet, but she was sure that was what he said.

Lan nodded to that, her hair slapping her in the face and she winced. "Yeah!" Except they'd continued on anyway, so maybe that wasn't the best example. But that storm had been entirely plot-related and conjured by the system, so it would have happened, and would have continued to happen, until they'd finished the quest or gave up. This one wasn't a quest, so they could wait.

Kenshin continued to watch the steady fall of water for a little longer before he nodded slowly and turned back towards where they'd came from. Sunshine was, unsurprisingly, looking curiously around the massive room, but he didn't ask anything as he left. Not yet, anyway.

Taking one last look, Lan followed after them.

It was only after they'd left the sound of rain behind that she realised that Kenshin shouldn't have remembered their experience in the Snow Village.

* * *  
Sunshine's room, and the cave in general, felt warmer after being close to the outside - but maybe that was because by the time they'd reached Sunshine's room, their clothes had dried completely. Lan peered up at the crystal ceiling, wondering if she could see the rain, but it was too bright to see anything and she eventually turned her head away, her eyes hurting. And then she started to think about it - the ceiling was far below where the outside was, so what was creating the light? Magic was the simple answer, and she didn't think about it much more after that.

She hummed. "So what should we do while we're waiting?" she asked, wondering if they should have maybe stayed somewhere closer to the room leading to the outside, so then they could leave as soon as the storm let up. Here, they couldn't know when the storm was over. Still, it was a lot drier and they'd actually be able to hold a conversation that didn't involve shouting here.

There was suddenly a muted ringing in her ear that she recognised instantly, especially when neither Sunshine or Kenshin reacted to it. Oh, _great_. Her alarm to get up. But they'd barely-! She sighed, scrubbing her face with a hand. She desperately wished to stay with them, but she had to cook breakfast and go to university. Dammit.

Sunshine was looking at her, understanding in his eyes. "You have to log out, don't you?"

She nodded, trying to _think_. Kenshin didn't know about players, about being an NPC. _Maybe_. What he'd said earlier showed that his memories weren't completely wiped, that there was still something there from after when his memories might have ended.

"It's all right," Sunshine reassured her quietly, "I'll talk to him."

Obviously he would, and possibly, Kenshin would talk back, if his more open self earlier was any indication.

Kenshin was glancing between them, his brow slightly furrowed as he tried to follow their conversation.

Ugh. As much as she wanted to stay, Lan knew that her alarm was going to go off again soon. "I've got to go," she told Kenshin, whose eyebrows deepened even further. "I'll try to be back as soon as possible, okay?"

"Okay."

He didn't look like he was but... If she kept thinking, Lan knew she'd probably _never_ get up, so she logged out before she talked herself out of it.

* * *  
The conversation Sunshine had had with Prince had not made much sense. Prince was going to leave by himself? Because they could not leave from the fastest route? The storm would not last long so they would not have to wait for long.

The elf glanced at him, waved his hand in the air and then he froze, his form going translucent before disappearing like he had never been there.

What? He blinked, waiting to see if something else would happen. There was a rustle of cloth as Sunshine padded towards him, slid a hand down his arm, grasped his hand and then started tugging him towards the chaise longue. He followed, not needing the guidance but not resisting either.

He sat down first, leaning back on the seashell, his legs over the edge. Sunshine sat the the head of the chaise longue and then swiveled around so that his legs were covering his own. That... was familiar, even though there was not a specific memory tied to it. He frowned, trying to find what it was, but when he tried, the things that were clearest to him were the last few days, fighting the Dark God, and Kaoru. The rest were disjointed images, splashes of colour and a murmuring mass of voices that could not be understood.

"What's wrong?" Sunshine had his head tilted to the side, his hair trailing over his shoulder.

"I... This is familiar, but I have never..." But that was not true, was it? Sunshine and Prince had both said he had done things that he could not remember doing and it was obvious now that his memories were fragmented and nearly non-existent.

Sunshine beamed at him. "We used to do that a lot when you came here. I'd ask questions about the world outside and you would answer them."

He did? "We used to?" What did they do now?

A nod, Sunshine's hair bouncing up and down. "We're with Prince now, in the Central Continent."

The Central Continent. Hm. He did not recognise the name. "We are in..."

"The Eastern Continent right now."

Were the two continents far away from each other? He looked away, gazing blankly at the stairs.

Sunshine settled down further on the chaise longue, stretching his legs before relaxing. "You told me about the world outside when I asked about it, so now I'll tell you about the world outside." He beamed at him.

He was not entirely sure if the sudden feeling he got at those words was ominous, but he was fairly sure that was it.

* * *  
Ugh, her stupid brother took ages to eat, Lan grumbled as she logged on, and she had a couple of readings to do that would probably be done while she was cooking breakfast and riding the bus tomorrow. She'd managed to do some of it while waiting for the pots to bubble for dinner, which was good, so she wouldn't be trying to cram as much information into her skull at once. Still. It wouldn't have been fun if she'd been reading it with all the time in the world anyway.

When she entered Second Life, she looked around and - Huh. Both Kenshin and Sunshine were on the seashell thing, Kenshin facing her while Sunshine was sprawled across it, his legs covering Kenshin. That was weird. Kenshin didn't mind? Though Sunshine did do things and couldn't be stopped once he had an idea (or question) in his mind, Lan just didn't think Kenshin would let his legs be used like a footstool either, and she was thinking of the Kenshin with all his memories.

Neither moved away from each other when they saw her, though Sunshine waved when he did, and Kenshin looked at her, his face more open than it had been before which Lan was relieved to see.

Grinning at the pair, she stretched, double-checking that everything was in order. "So, ready to go?"

"Yup!" Sunshine beamed and swung his legs over the side, Kenshin smiling softly beside him.

"All riiight, let's go already!" She was _tired_ of all these surrounding walls; she couldn't _wait_ to see the open sky again.

Lan was the first one out the room, but she waited for Sunshine and Kenshin beside the door - she knew they turned left here, but that was as far as her knowledge went. She hummed, glancing up at the jewel on the door, and then frowned when she noticed it was different. Wasn't that...

"Prince, you don't have to break off another piece," Sunshine said as he held out a gem that was about three times the size of his palm, "we already did."

She stared at it before looking quickly between them. "Wait - why did you - uuuh-"

With a huff, she stopped herself, sorted out her thoughts, and then tried again. "Why did you do that?" She hadn't asked them to, and she hadn't said anything about it the entire time they'd been in the cave, so how had they known?

"You spent a long time trying to get a piece last time and I thought you might want another one, so we broke off another bit."

Ha, that was definitely true - she'd probably spent an hour slashing in the one direction before her attacks had finally gnawed their way through to the back, and then she had to slash in another direction for half-an-hour to break it off completely. Her arm was _aching_ by the end of it. Jing and Yun hadn't been able to help with their abilities, and getting a part of the jewel had been a last-minute realisation so she'd told them to carry on ahead and she'd catch up with them. It was a good thing Kenshin had marked out where they'd passed or she'd have never found them and would probably still be wandering the cave.

"Thanks," she said warmly, taking the jewel and placing it in her pouch. She grinned at widely at them. "Okay, time to _really_ go!"

* * *  
Prince really was hard to understand; there did not seem to be any reason behind why he did things (Why did he need a piece of the door? Sunshine had not known either.) but he normally did not understand other people so it should not have been much of a surprise.

Going to the exit went faster this time, now that he knew for sure what path to take instead of attempting to rely on briefly seen images and trying to follow a fragile feeling of knowing that dissipated as soon as he thought about it too hard. The trip was quieter in one way in that he could not hear any wind or rain as they approached the last room. In another way, that could have been because he could not hear them over Prince.

"Aah, I can't wait to be able to eat food again! And drink! And see the sky again!

"Hmm, but what should I eat first? ...Wah, there's too much choice!"

Sunshine had said that he would also enjoy seeing the fair sky again once they left; Prince had grinned and slapped him on the shoulder.

Was there something that he missed? He and Sunshine had not really talked about him, what he liked or disliked. It had largely been about the world: locations, cities, how long it took to fly from the Ghost Cave to Infinite City. He had had flashes of a sparkling blue body of water stretched under him, and stone buildings that were not from the Snow Village when they had been talking, but not more than that. Maybe he would remember more when they arrived in Infinite City.

The room with the exit was completely dry and showed no signs of there ever having been a lot of water inside it a few hours before. The stone stairs were on the other side of the room and mostly looked stable; some steps had crumbled away, leaving uneven gaps - they were small enough that they would not need to jump over them though.

But with every step that he took towards the stairs, and every one after that as he began climbing them, the whispers in his mind demanded his attention and began to conflict, growing louder and louder.

'_You have to Stay. You have to Wait.'_

'You already have. You Stayed and Waited and then you met Sunshine and Prince.'

'You cannot leave the cave.'

They did not make sense. Why were the whispers telling what to do when they had only given him information before?

_'You have left before. You can go.'_

'You are only allowed to leave with another person.'

But he was leaving with Sunshine and Prince, so then that would not be a problem. The whispers paused at that, but only for a few seconds. It was only by running his hand along the wall beside him, feeling the sharp points under his fingertips that he did not stop under the onslaught.

It did not take long to reach the top, and it only took two slashes of his katana before the hole was large enough for them to get through easily again.

Pulling himself up, he moved away from the hole and stared at everything around him. The sky had been the first thing he had seen and now that he was seeing it with his own eyes rather than hearing it described, he was having brief flashes of the sky being different colours: a light grey; turning pink; completely black except for spots of white.

The ground was soft under his feet, and there was a much higher abundance of green around him. Again, he saw other images overlapping the trees around him: the trees were thinner, their overall shape different; there was a uniform spacing between other trees; wrapped around another tree was a large purple ribbon.

There were no other sounds apart from a light gust ruffling the leaves and someone pulling himself out the hole. The whispers had quietened down to nothing as soon as he had stepped outside he realised.

"Kenshin?"

He turned away from the sights to see Sunshine sitting on a floating... he couldn't tell what it was, and Prince was standing next to it.

"You coming?"

He started walking towards them; he could look closely later - now it was time to go 'home'.

"Yeah."


	3. Return

**Summary**: It didn't matter what had gone wrong, because there was a much bigger question to ask: what happens when a self-aware NPC dies?

Rated for swearing.

_This_ is what happens when you write a lot of backstory and missing scenes and then write a character losing their memory. *snerk* XD; References mostly to Changes, Step by Little Step, and Off Period. Not in this order.

D: D: D: I am so sorry Fairsky, for my horrible characterisation of you!

The scene with Epictank – I have _no idea_ where that came from! _Especially_ the last bit! *is laughing so hard*

Argh, stupid pronouns. :P

Kaoliang is an alcoholic drink.

* * *

**Reset**

By Dark Ice Dragon

Return

* * *

The flight back didn't feel like it took that much time at all, but then, they'd been busy with answering Kenshin's questions – their conversations hadn't been linear in any way, Kenshin suddenly asking about something unrelated to what they'd just been talking about, which then set off another slew of questions, and the cycle continued from there. Even though they'd covered topics from travel (the carpet was the fastest transport Lan had been on – but she could only compare it to the ship) to drink (kaoliang was good, but she was never drinking it again) they somehow hadn't broached the subject about the system, NPCs or players. She'd at least been able to PM Lolidragon as soon as they entered Central Continent, explaining the situation to her. Lolidragon hadn't known what to do, but she said she'd talk it over with some more experienced GMs.

Now they were practically on top of Infinite City, the familiar sites laid out below them and getting bigger by the second. Dammit, it never seemed the right time to interrupt with _that_ seriousness, not when Kenshin was so _open_ and curious about everything and actually willing to ask about them. Lan sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. Okay, once they were standing on solid ground, _then_ she'd explain. She wasn't sure what she'd say, but it had to be before Kenshin saw the NPCs in Infinite City.

They touched down in the city square and Lan was surprised she didn't see a lot of players walking around. A few of them recognised her and waved, but thankfully, they didn't approach. It _was_ dark but – No. Nonono-

_Shit!_ That was her alarm going off! But she hadn't-! _Dammit!_ Why hadn't she told him straight away? Now he was-! No time, berate later, try to fix _now_. Lan span to Sunshine, who nodded in understanding as he rolled up his carpet.

This was _not_ how she wanted Kenshin to re-find out about Second Life! "I am _really_ sorry, Kenshin," she said, her voice strained, feeling guilt heavy in her stomach.

Kenshin looked at her, puzzlement written all over his face. "If you have to go…?"

Lan winced. "I _do_, but I don't want to."

"Oh."

And Kenshin didn't know _why_- Feeling like she wanted to crawl inside herself for leaving like this, Lan logged off.

* * *  
He didn't understand why Prince had seemed so... against leaving. If he didn't want to go, then why did he?

Sunshine's carpet had disappeared while he had been talking with Prince, and Sunshine tilted his head towards him, his eyes sad. "Kenshin, there's something-"

"Sunshine!" a voice yelled, interrupting him.

He twisted towards where he'd heard it and had nearly freed his katana from its sheath when Sunshine stopped him with a tight hand on his shoulder. Why? They were being attacked! Someone always called out his name just before attacking him.

Running towards them was a human thief, her hair bouncing up and down with every step. She didn't look angry though -her eyes weren't narrowed, her stance wasn't aggressive- and she didn't have a weapon drawn. She sped towards them and then barrelled into Sunshine, rocking him back a few steps.

"Are you okay?" the woman demanded, her shoulders shaking, her head buried in Sunshine's shoulder. "Lolidragon said you were looking for Kenshin but you wouldn't answer my PMs!"

"Ah..." Sunshine hugged her, drawing her close to him. "We were in the Eastern Continent."

That seemed to mean something to her, her shoulders stilling. She peeked at him, and he stared back at her. "Well, you found him and he's fine, so we can spend some time together again!" The woman hooked an arm around Sunshine's, whose eyes widened when she began dragging him away.

"Wait! Fair sky, I need to-" He didn't hear the rest as they had already disappeared around the corner.

Who was that woman...? He hadn't been sure about helping Sunshine, but she hadn't been trying to hurt him, and his hair tie wasn't the target either. The voices had said nothing, apart from telling him what she was.

Hm. It looked like he was going to re-explore Infinite City by himself.

* * *  
It didn't seem like he would tire of watching the river flow beneath him as it looped its way around buildings and then tumbled under the bridge. It was soothing to listen to, the constant gushing sound as it passed, and seeing the… stars in the sky as they glimmered in the water was nice as well. He didn't remember much about the river, but he stayed there, content for the moment.

A breeze picked up then, tugging at his hair and haori, and he stared as he saw nearby trees lose some of their leaves. They fluttered around, some landing in the river, others caught in another gust of wind, dancing higher and then out of sight.

Maybe he should explore the parks next. He frowned and examined that thought. There wasn't only one here? He hadn't taken in the full size of Infinite City when they'd landed, still distracted by just looking at every individual thing. It had seemed small when he'd first seen it, but now he wondered just how long it would take until he had seen everything again.

He stayed there for a few more seconds before he began to walk towards the cluster of trees that he could see just beyond where he stood. It didn't take long to get there, and he placed a hand on the first tree he reached. The bark was rough under his palm, deep cracks running up and down its trunk – it was different from the trees outside the Ghost Cave: they had been darker and smoother, though not by much. Grass rustled under his boots, but when he turned around, he had left no mark of where he'd tread, the grass springing back instantly.

It only took a few steps in before he could see that there was a theme of yellow in this park – orchids, roses, and yellow benches surrounded him, and those were the few things that he could name. …There was another park here that was coloured with purple, he was sure of it.

But before he went in search of that one, he would look around here first.

* * *  
"Heeeey, wow, did you get on really early, or have you been on all night?" The elf paladin sat down with a heaving sigh on the fountain he had been gazing at (there was a dragon statue with its wings outstretched at the top of it, water sprinkling from its open mouth) and he took a half step away from her, watching her warily from the corner of his eyes. Apart from Prince, no-one had talked to him like… he wasn't sure what the word was. Sunshine, for some reason, didn't count. The elf's armour was similar to Prince's, though not as bulky and the chest had a green crest on its front, while her leggings had red triangles winding down it.

He didn't understand the question but-

_'Oh, hey. You're on pretty late.' A pause. 'Or is it early?'_

-it was familiar in some ways, if the… memory? –it had to be; he had never heard that voice before, except, he must have- was any indication.

"I don't know?"

The elf snickered behind a palm, though he could still see her teeth from where he stood. "On all night then," she said once her hand was away from her face again. "I'm Epictank."

"Kenshin." That was what he was supposed to use, wasn't it? That was what Sunshine and Prince called him instead of Demon Lord.

"Nice ta meet'cha." Epictank blew a sigh through her teeth, and then she smiled at him. "I only came on to check my mail; I hope I meet you again later – you're cute." She froze a second later and then flickered out of view.

…What?

* * *  
He was getting used to not being treated as… someone to be attacked on sight. Some people, for no other reason than the fact that he was there, came up to him and talked to him. They seemed to have a habit of calling him 'Newbie' when he didn't know the answers to their questions, but they were willing to answer his, and the Newbie name was teasing, he could tell that much. They came and went, some taking him to places of interest, especially when they found out this was his first time in the city. He wasn't really lying when he said that. The castle of the City Lord was large and he was interested in what it looked like inside; the stadium where the City Lord sang was just as large, and he stayed there as something teased his memories.

Every seat had been filled, from the top row in the stand to the wide space in the middle. Filled with - people (there had been another word there, but 'people' had slotted itself in before the other could surface). His view was not from looking at the stage though, but looking _out_ from it. Had he been performing?

He heard the sound of someone approaching quietly from behind him, and then that stealth fell as the person rushed towards him. He span around, and there was a screech as two blades skittered across each other. He used his hilt to lock the other blade in place. Dark hair framed a human (warrior) face, brown eyes narrowed in concentration. He pushed forward, trying to use the reach of his katana before the other could use his sword. The warrior leapt away easily. Skin-tight black clothing, highlighted by silver.

They exchanged blow after blow and a few times, he had nearly been hit, but when that happened, at the last second, the other's blade seemed to change direction or lose some of its speed. He _knew_ this man's moves though – he knew them well enough that he also knew how to counter them, but he wasn't quite fast enough, the pause between seeing, knowing and then moving with that knowledge different from knowing and moving before it happened. But as the fight wore on, it became easier to predict from a twitch of a muscle, the distribution of weight and then to counter when the attack came.

In the end, the fight (spar? That was what it had been, wasn't it?) finished when the man lowered his sword from the ready position, his katana following a few seconds later. The man hadn't been trying to kill him, or steal his hair tie and going against an opponent who could match his speed was different from his previous fights.

"You're rusty from not playing for so long," the other person noted. Had sparring together been regular occurrence before? And playing – relaxing helped his fighting ability? "Drink?"

If it helped… "Yeah." Maybe he could try the kaoliang Sunshine and Prince had talked about.

* * *  
There was something… different about some of the people around him, but he couldn't tell what it was. By the time he'd noticed when he was drinking with Arctic Fox (a few people had challenged him to a fight, but he'd refused), he had to leave as well so he couldn't ask him.

The whispers only gave him information on certain people, and he couldn't see a pattern for who they would tell him about and who they wouldn't. Their waitress was someone he didn't get titbits of knowledge about, and as he walked around Infinite City again, he saw that there were a few people that were the same. It had been important that he didn't know what Sunshine was when they'd first met, but why?

_'We aren't meant to fight each other.'_

That had been Sunshine's voice. So, if he knew what the person was, he was supposed to fight them? But… no-one attacked him here, not like when he was in the Ghost Cave. He didn't _want_ to fight to the death either. Did they need to fight? He didn't think so, especially if it was over his hair tie.

He hadn't seen anyone who was the same as Prince though – he knew what Prince was, but there was also something else there at the back of his mind that he couldn't pinpoint, that he couldn't explain in words.

He should ask him about that the next time he saw him.

* * *  
Ugh, whhhy did she have to have one class first thing in the morning and then have one class in the afternoon? There were too many hours in between them, but not enough that she could go home and be able to play for a decent amount of time before going back to class! Worriedly, Lan scanned the city square, trying to see if she could see Kenshin. How had he taken it? That question had been on her mind the whole day, making her lose her appetite and unable to concentrate properly.

"Prince, you're back!"

Oh, not _now_. But Gui kept hurrying towards her, an eager grin on your face. "You didn't end up on another boat, did you?" he asked wryly as soon as he was close enough to be heard.

Aha… Not exactly, no. "I didn't waste any more money," she said, still keeping an eye out for a bright haori, or white hair.

"Whew, that's good – Yulian wanted to talk to you as soon as you got back."

_That_ got her full attention. Erk. She hadn't spent any money while she was away, so she was safe from Yulian's wrath. Unless it was something else. Lan followed Gui back to the castle, her attention split with different worries.

* * *  
Well, that hadn't been so bad, Lan sighed to herself once she left the room. It was a good thing Kenshin and Sunshine had gotten her that piece of the door or else who knew what would have happened. Still, she'd been away from the city for so long she'd have to do a couple of concerts to build the funds back up; nothing too bad, and it could have been a whole lot worse.

Lan's arm was snagged and she was pulled down the corridor, hopping all the way as she tried to keep her balance.

"What – hey – Lolidragon!"

"Shh!"

Wha-? Lolidragon's face was uncharacteristically serious and that was enough for Lan to keep quiet. There was no-one else around apart from some NPCs, so they didn't get any funny looks as they ducked into an empty room.

Lolidragon shut the door behind them and then leaned back on it for a few seconds before shaking her head and pushing herself away from it. "I talked to some other GMs who know more about how Second Life and technology works."

Lan would have been happy to know if Lolidragon's tone wasn't quiet. _Final_. "Okay…?" she said hesitantly.

"There _is_ a way for Kenshin to get his memories back – the system keeps regular restore points so all we'd have to do is… 'reset'-" Lolidragon winced "-his data to a point before he died. Except…" She trailed off, looking away.

"Except what?" Lan's head buzzed with too many what-ifs, spun with so many different emotions flying around in her mind she couldn't name them all.

"I'm not experienced enough or know enough to attempt to try," Lolidragon finished, shoulders slumping. "I don't want to mess around with Kenshin's…" She struggled for words. "Code, just in case I make things _worse_."

Everything slowed down as the realisation began to take hold. "And you can't ask anyone to help." Obviously. Because-

"They'd think he'd been 'buggy' anyway and leave him as he is."

"But…" Lan shook her head, her breathing going uneven. "He's _remembering_ things. He knew about Snow Village - Sunshine! He knew how to get out of the Ghost Cave! So, he'll remember everything else as well." Right? He would, wouldn't he?

"Lan…" Lolidragon said gently, "Kenshin was _supposed_ to know those things; those were set by the system. And…" She sighed, scratching the back of her head. "When information in the system is deleted, it's not actually 'gone' - not completely. The data's flagged as space that can be written over with new data." Lolidragon hesitated, biting her lip. "The memories are there but," -she took a deep breath- "they're being written over with new information."

Wait. So _everything_ they had done with Kenshin was… Lan's mind blanked, not wanting to finish that thought. "There isn't anything we can do about it?"

Lolidragon shook his head.

Dammit...

* * *  
Lan didn't know what to think. She didn't _want_ to think either. She'd certainly feel better if she didn't, if she lost herself in a dull haze.

"Prince!"

Turning her head sharply, Lan could see Sunshine running towards her. Alone. Where was-? He halted in front of her, worry radiating from him.

"I wasn't able to tell him-"

_What?_

"-Fairsky pulled me away before I could and I haven't been able to find him."

Kenshin had been wandering Infinite City (_Maybe. What if he left?_) for hours not knowing about Second Life and at that time, NPCs probably outnumbered the players. What did he…? Just – just find him first. "Where do you think he'd-" No, that wouldn't work. Kenshin didn't have regular places he'd visit now. "Where have you looked?"

"The taverns, the purple park, and the sword shops and book shops – no-one's seen him."

And if he kept moving around, he might have gone back to them anyway. It'd be better if they split up again to try and find him but... She threw a cursory glance around her, just in case he was standing somewhere obvious and they were missing him.

Huh? Lan craned her neck to peer into the inn window. "Uh… found him."

"Really?" Blinking, Sunshine peeked inside. Kenshin was still there, sitting at one of the tables, his eyes flicking at everything. Lan and Sunshine shared a look and then went in.

Kenshin noticed them straight away and waved at them, a small smile on his face. So, he didn't know? It made Lan feel better, but only marginally.

As soon as they sat down, a waitress swept towards them, a plate of steaming meat buns in her hand.

"And that's fifteen meat buns for you!" The waitress smiled at Kenshin as she set the plate down. "Would you two like to order?" she asked, turning to Lan and Sunshine.

Lan shook her head.

"Are you going to eat all of them?" Sunshine asked Kenshin, his eyes wide, as the waitress walked away.

Kenshin frowned, picking one up. "I don't know. This was what came to mind when she asked."

…Lan was going to ignore the image of Kenshin trying to eat Meatbun.

Taking a bite and then chewing, Kenshin cocked his head to the side, and looked at her. "Why are you different from everyone else?"

"Huh?" Did he know she was-? No, that couldn't be it.

"You feel… different from other people. Even more different than the…" He stopped, his eyebrows drawing together.

"People you don't know about?" Sunshine finished quietly.

Kenshin's face cleared, and he nodded.

And Lan had no idea what they were talking about.

"That's because you're Prince's pet."

Lan grimaced at the bluntness –not that Sunshine was intending that- but she didn't know how else to put it either. If she'd tried to tell him, she would have probably said the same thing. She looked around the inn and, thankfully, there wasn't anyone close enough to hear their conversation. Lan bit her lip, bringing her attention back to Kenshin.

How was he going to take it?

* * *  
He was Prince's pet? He looked at Prince from the corner of his eyes – he was quiet, his eyebrows drawn together.

Sunshine didn't lie.

"Why am I your pet?" he asked, turning to the elf fully. Prince didn't treat him like a pet – he hadn't tried to pet him, leash him or tell him what to do.

Prince winced, his head dipping. "It's because of a quest you helped me to complete." There was a pause as he looked away. "You were the reward," he said quietly.

That was why Prince was different from everyone else? Because he was his master? "And everyone else?" Why were there two different kinds of people? Unless… The people who the whispers didn't tell him about were also other people's pets?

Prince took a deep breath, his fingers shredding one of the napkins that had been on the table. "They're… They're NPCs: Non-Player Characters. It means-" Prince stopped, eyes flicking away. "This world, Second Life," he said slowly, looking up, "everything here, it – it doesn't…" He shook his head. "It was created as a game."

"The people who you get information about," Sunshine said, picking up instantly when Prince fell silent, "are 'players'. Players are people who come to Second Life for fun."

That… didn't make a lot of sense. This world had been created? "How long has… Second Life been-" he frowned, trying to find the right word, "-existing for?"

"A couple of months."

He looked sharply to Prince when he heard that. A couple of months? That couldn't be right. "But I remember growing up in Snow Village. Kaoru." It still hurt to say her name; was she still waiting for him? "I fought the Dark God years ago." He was _sure_ of it.

"Kenshin," Prince said unhappily, holding his gaze, "most of your memories are… They're not real. They were – okay, I don't what they did, but I think they put in information that makes you believe it happened."

But then, what was real? If what he thought was the truth wasn't, then could he trust any of his memories? "Everything I remember…?"

"Maybe," Sunshine said. "Do you remember anything else that isn't about Snow Village, Kaoru, or the Dark God?"

He frowned, probing his memory. But, even if he did find something, wouldn't that also be the same as his other memories? Still. Not _everything_ in his mind could have been placed there. There had to be something that had actually happened.

"A purple ribbon around a tree," he said eventually. He hadn't been able to find that park yet and see it with his own eyes again. There were other images tied to that, now that he was trying to bring his memories to the surface.

"Books, and ice-cream." He didn't know what he'd read, or what flavour the ice-cream had been, but the memory of those items was different from when he thought about the Snow Village, or everything else he thought had happened. It was less clear and that, contradictorily, made them more real than what he remembered in perfect clarity.

A smile grew on Sunshine's face. "I remember those – that had been with Lolidragon."

The name didn't mean anything to him, though he did get flashes of long red hair. "That happened here." He wasn't sure if he meant that as a question or as a statement, but either way, it had to have – there was only one small park in Snow Village, and that had been bare of any decorations; the village wasn't big enough to have a shop that only sold ice-cream either.

"Yes."

Good; not everything he knew was a lie.

Prince's fidgeting had moved to the meat buns, tearing tiny pieces of the dough off. "I'm really sorry I didn't tell you about this earlier." His eyes were downcast, his shoulders hunched over.

"It doesn't matter." And it didn't. If he'd known before coming to Infinite City, he wasn't sure what he would have thought, but he doubted he would have been so interested in exploring and he wouldn't have talked to the… players? as much either.

His life before was a lie, but he knew his life here wasn't, that there were people here who cared for him, even if he didn't remember them. Even if he couldn't remember, he'd just have to make new memories with them.

"I don't think I'm going to be able to eat all these meat buns." He was fairly sure he would be full after two, and definitely after three (why had he ordered fifteen the first time?) but he wasn't alone at the moment.

Sunshine had already picked one up, and he handed another to Prince, who nearly dropped it as soon as it was in his hand. Prince stared at it for a few seconds, his body relaxing slowly, and then he took a bite.

Smiling to himself, he took a second meat bun and began eating it. Afterwards, he'd ask them to show him around Infinite City; exploring by himself had been interesting, but he'd expect it to be more fun if he was doing it with other people.

* * *

I was hoping that Kenshin would start thinking of himself as 'Kenshin' by the end of it, but I wasn't sure how to actually show this. =/

Waaaaah, this could potentially keep going but I have no continuing plot for this, sorry.


End file.
